


Ways To Make You Pay

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, M/M, Stabdads AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-11
Updated: 2012-07-28
Packaged: 2017-10-27 04:35:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><a href="http://homesmut.livejournal.com/12138.html?thread=23446378#t23446378">>Writen for the kinkmeme!</a><br/>"Alternate universe where everyone is a human and Karkat, Tavros, Aradia and Sollux are all kids of their respective stabdad. Together they have formed the well-respected and feared Midnight Crew and have made a mark on their city. The problem? They keep running into a rival Mob run organization known as the Felt encroaching in on their territory. So far they've only really been held back by one the temporary overseers of the gang, a Badass fem fatal by the name of Sn0man and her daughters the loud and beautiful scourge sisters."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'll Never Know A Sunday In This Weekday Room

[[S]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRxS7Q64xUQ)

Winter brought the same weather as always; ashen skies pained with smog and the occasional stroke of sunlight. It was a sight Karkat didn't often have time to look at and, for the most part, he'd been enjoying the luxury of the windows to the side of him - but the sophisticated fabric surrounding them was setting him on edge. Hand crafted curtains only meant one thing, and that thing was Kanaya Maryam. The woman herself was a rare gem in a sea of incompetent, and unfriendly, faces. She had a sense of grace and class that Karkat had yet to find in anyone else: the beauty of it all was her apparent unawareness of it; it was simply as natural to her as breathing and Karkat had always found himself harboring a soft spot for her. No, her personality couldn't be improved; however, her profession could be worked on. While she found money through the clothes she designed, made and sold - "Answer me this Kanaya, who the fuck would buy a—what even is this? A dragon blanket? A cape?! Jesus Christ why can't you just get normal customers!" - Her part time work was often why Karkat showed up in the first place. She was competent in medical assistances - especially first aid that didn't need to be drawing attention from authoritative figures. She was known for her ability to keep quiet and mend up anyone who turned up. He was pretty sure that everyone in the town had visited her apartment at one point, and that probably meant the felt too, he bitterly spat. However, with the felt came a certain individual whom Karkat had been trying to gather information on for quite a while. Maybe if he worded it correctly then she'd give some information on the--

"Jesus what the fuck was that for!?" He suddenly shrieked, cradling his right arm and ignoring the splutter of laughter from the other corner of the room.

"I felt your thoughts had wondered from the present topic at hand and thus found it the best time to check everything is healing correctly," Kanaya explained, once again examining the healing flesh and making Karkat whine in the process. "Well obviously-- no stop poking it like a fucking toy!" He growled, further retracting his arm from her grasp. Even if Kanaya looked innocent enough, Karkat was more than a hundred percent sure she still caused mischief when she wanted too - he could see that look in her eyes from a mile off.

"Well I am more than pleased to express joy at your recovery," the woman in question finally smiled, moving away from her inspection of his arm in favor of instead giving his companion a brief looking over. Sollux seemed non-too happy about this, complying only because it was the minimal effort choice - but even this could only last for a couple of minutes before he was moving out of Kanaya's reach. "I'm fine KY, I didn't get a thratch on me unlike our fearlth leader over there."

"Asshole, I ended up with this because you were too worried about getting your hands dirty to actually fucking help me,” Karkat spat, ignoring another chuckle from both Kanaya and Sollux. The wound itself was still a sore conversation topic ; he’d been slashed by a blind girl for fuck’s sake, and – as Sollux never failed to point out – he’d failed to leave a single scratch on her. Karkat has insisted on his conclusion that there was no way she was actually blind, despites Kanaya’s assurances that she was.

“If you hadn’t noticed, _athhole_ , I was buthy with that other girl – the one trying to give me a free amputation.”

“Sollux are you suggesting there is someone else after my job?”

“Come off it KY, I know you treated her once becauth I’ve never thomeone clean up that well after an accident, spethically the eye.”

“I’m under professional policies that stop me from discussing that information.”

“You’re a backthreet doctor; thereth nothing thopping you,” Sollux sighed, also playing his own game of gaining information on the infamous sister who had been trumping all their attempts at completing a single job. They hadn’t managed one for six months without the pair turning up and intervening. Sometimes they just watched from afar and made insults, other times they got too close for comfort and ended up in fights that never ended well for them. They’d been almost tolerable when it had been on territory that wasn’t their own, but now they couldn’t get far out without trouble brewing. Slick was getting impatient with it all, claiming to kill some woman every time they were thwarted. Karkat didn’t really know who they were supposed to be killing, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t the two sisters – which was a positive and a negative; because the longer they did nothing, the more times he was going to end up dragging his sorry ass back to Kanaya for patching up again. The most frustrating part was Kanaya’s tight lips about the Felt, successfully blocking any attempt of information fishing.

“Even a business with questionable legitimacy must cohere to ethics, that I am certain of,” Kanaya simply hummed, happy enough with Sollux’s state to give Karkat one last fussing over. The youngest of the three was close to whining now, fed up of the constant attention over a wound that probably wasn’t even infected. He hoped. Even he had to admit it didn’t look too peachy, and the yellowing scabs were looking more ugly than usual – but deep down he was sure he was fine and that Kanaya was just fussing, because apparently she couldn’t cope without making Karkat squirm for an hour. “Honestly, I’m fine - apart from this big ass scar the size of Sollux’s front teeth – but I’m not dying.”

“You certainly are not dying on my watch,” Kanaya agreed, finally listening to Karkat and moving around the sofa and back into the kitchen to make some kind of beverage. Unfortunately, not his usual of bitter coffee; Kanaya only stocked tea and orange juice. Another problem Karkat liked to point out when she was treating him.

“Pity, thought I’d finally be able to pair up with AA or TA inthead of your incompetent thelf,” Sollux grinned, leaning further back into the chair with the ease of their bickering routine.

“Oh right, because Tavros is totally competent,” Karkat snorted, earning another grin from Sollux and a lecturing tut from Kanaya.

“Heth not that bad; AA thays heths never let her down before so he can’t be ath terrible ath we athume he ith.”

“Mm, good; because your girlfriend is the only intelligent one out of the pair.”

“KK ‘my girlfriend’ hath a name.”

“Oh right, AA – Jethus how could I forget?” Karkat deadpanned, watching with taunting eyes as skinny fingers hovered over the velvet pillows – probably measuring up how long Kanaya’s back would have to be turned for him to be able to suffocate Karkat with it.

“Really Karkat, Sollux has a point,” Kanaya interrupted, followed by the soft chinks of porcelain mugs hitting the sideboard of her kitchen. “Tavros is more than capable and to my knowledge, he’s sustained fewer injuries than you.”

A muttered response of ‘too chickenshit to get involved’ left the bitter lips of Karkat as Sollux suddenly sat up straight, fishing in his pockets for what Karkat could only assume was his phone. Before he had a chance to pull it up, the doorbell went, making both men freeze in their tracks. Only Kanaya was unbothered by the noise, but then again, it wasn’t her who was in constant fights with other gang members who knew Karkat and Sollux’s faces better than they knew the backs of their hands.

“Are you expecting anyone?”

“I can’t say that I am, but I do ask that you calm down because you have a tendency to over react and I would hate if you shot the postman in a rash move.” Kanaya made confident steps from the kitchen back into the living room and into the hallway – throwing in the last comment at the sight of Sollux’s hand creeping towards his coat pocket, just as Karkat was mirroring the same action.

“I told you both not to worry,” Kanaya called as she reached the doorway, making Karkat jump from the sudden tension in the living room. The latch of the door clicked, and the two of them were on their feet – only to catch one of their own members crossing the threshold into the apartment. She was almost impossible to see behind Kanaya, but even her height couldn’t stop her thick black curls from giving away her identity.

“Fuck Megido – what is your problem with turning up out of the blue and scaring the shit out of me?” Karkat sighed, flopping back down onto the sofa and scowling at her. His own eyes met with hers – so darkly brown that he could have sworn they were black: but it wasn’t the colour that was the problem, the way she always seemed to be constantly observing and analyzing was the thing that freaked him out. Aradia Megido was like a perfectly painted doll, but Karkat had seen that girl take down men twice her size with mere intelligence alone. As much as she had going for her, Karkat found her constant vagueness the most infuriating thing to work with – which he was sure only encouraged Sollux to enjoy her company further.

“I did text Sollux.”

“Right as you came to the door, instead of the normal thing of texting on your way there with at least twenty minutes to spare. Besides, he was too busy shitting himself to answer the door,” he growled, Sollux in turn looking like he wanted to give Karkat another injury to complain about.

“Only becauthe some fuckath keepth getting beaten up by a girl who can’t even thee him. One of uth hath to be on alert.”

“I’m telling you she isn’t blind!” He shouted, gaining a snigger from his best friend and a simple stare from Aradia. Fucking women.

“I can assure you, for the sixth time today, that she is blind—

“I can assure you that I don’t give a shit! She’s cheating!” Karkat was getting pretty fed up of Sollux’s sniggering, sulking even more about the whole thing.

“How can you cheat, thaths ridiculouth. ”

“An impossible feat,” Aradia simply commented, ignoring Karkat’s snarl as he sunk back into the chair again. “But I didn’t come here to act as a catalyst for you and Sollux to fight; I came to tell you about today’s plan – which may or may not include a ceratin blind woman.”

“In-fucking-sightful as ever, what a catch Sollux! I’m so jealous you snatched up this fine piece of a bullshit machine.”

“KK how about you go tell that to DD? Unleth you want to be punched through a wall. Again.”

“I’ll punch you through the wall in a minute, bastard!”

“Oo, I’m frightened now KK. The guy who can’t fight hith way out of a paper bag ith going to hit me!”

“At least I’m not the fuckass who put a plastic bag over my own head when I was si-“ Karkat was caught off midsentence, a taller and older mediator coming between himself and Sollux – who was apparently more worked up then the younger male had thought. He wasn’t quite sure when he’d stood back up on his feet, but apparently he didn’t look that intimidating if Aradia was still stood inches away from him – waiting for his tantrum to subside without as much as blinking.

“I appreciate you two are cat and dog, but must we fight in my apartment?” She reasoned, removing her hand from Sollux who had sheepishly simmered down again – leaving Karkat riled up and waiting. “Karkat, think of the sofa – it is suede.”

Not the suede fucking sofa,” he muttered, but did calm down considerably, instead sitting back down and fiddling with his fingers in the restraint of asking Sollux the inevitable question that followed every argument. Luckily Aradia broke the silence first, saving his pride from having to ask in a room full of people.

“As I was previously saying: we’re requested back at home,” Aradia continued, briefly turning to Kanaya’s direction “I apologise for taking the two from you today, but there is no way around the rules Father sets on keeping things within the family.”

“I understand, but you should already know I am here should anything unexpected happen tonight.”

“Everything will be unexpected, but I feel you may be preoccupied with other members instead of our own tonight.”

“Jesus Christ, are we going on some kind of suicide mission? Or is that just your natural ability to turn anything exciting into one of those parties where they hire a cheap clown who has no idea what the fuck he is doing and then the parents have to deal with crying children en masse. Not that anyone should hire a clown in the first place, especially not Boxcars – Jesus Christ I didn’t sleep for weeks.”

“KK—“

“I believe it is my own ability, but either way I am fine with it.”

“Fucking fabulous then.”

“Are we now done cauth I’m pretty sure exthited for this, seeing as we haven’t got anything worth mentioning done in weekth”

“Yeah yeah – let’s go already,” Karkat agreed, grabbing his coat from the arm rest of his chair – where Kanaya had neatly folded it for him.

“Thee ya’ KY,” Sollux nodded, linking arms with Aradia in a fluid motion – who also gave a smile and nod of goodbye. The two made their way out of the apartment first, leaving Karkat and Kanaya to exchange words.

“Thanks,” he mumbled after the door clicked shut again, trying to ignore showing how bashful he felt.

“You are more than welcome. Remember to keep safe Karkat – Aradia seems more on edge today.”

“Wouldn’t you be too if you were practically married to the one and only Sollux Captor,” he sighed, grabbing a knitted scarf and wrapping it around his neck before finally taking his cigarettes. No matter how many times Kanaya carefully took them from his pockets, it never stopped him from reclaiming them again.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah. I do but I’ll be fine, and don’t worry I’m not gonna do anything if I see blind bitch.” Kanaya seemed to weigh up something for a long pause, giving Karkat a look he couldn’t quite put a name to.

“If I told you her real name would you stop calling her such degrading names?”

“No,” he instantly barked, only to re-think his answer. “Wait if I say yes will you tell me?” Kanaya only smiled in returning, starting to herd him out of the living room and out of the door. “No really – oh God you would have done too! Fuck don’t do this to me!”

“Stay safe,” she answered, but Karkat could pick up on the amusement in her voice she had reached the door before him, opening it and waiting for him to pass through. Within a second of having both feet outside, the door gently closed. Leaving Karkat to turn and face the wooden door. “Fuck you!” He shouted, ignoring the tut from Sollux.

“Done yet?”

“No, I thought I’d stand here and scream at her door all day. Of course I’m fucking done so let’s go.”

“I think that’s a good decision, seeing as we have a lack of time today.”

“Well shit, you know we’re fucked when Aradia can’t fit things into her schedule. Didn’t Boxcars call you time master the other day? Some bullshit nickname that flaunted his low intelligence in understanding how a fucking diary works.”

“KK do you want a fight?”

“Well if you’re offering,” he replied, only countered by a muttered insult that had Aradia giggling lightly and leaning closer against Sollux. Karkat just trailed on behind the two, silently cursing past Karkat for his slip of the tongue at Kanaya’s house. However... Aradia had pretty much just implied that he’d find some more information out on the current bane of his existence - but then again, what Aradia implied and what she actually meant were two separate entities on two different planets. With another sigh, he fumbled with his coat pocket, searching for his second nicotine fix of the day.

If this morning was any indication, then he’d be needing the whole packet by this evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jeez i only wanted to type an introduction and it ended up looking like a stand-alone piece? but yeah this is going to be a looong fill so i hope i manage to do it justice and get the updates out in good time~


	2. A Rat Always Knows When He's In With Weasels

[[S]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTvELXNXNU)

 

It had been at least two hours since Aradia had left on her hunt for their two other companions, and Tavros couldn't really say he'd done anything productive in that time. Unless making lunch counted; which actually, probably didn't – seeing as only Deuce and Boxcars had bothered to grab a plate of it. Today seemed to be dedicated to planning, and Slick was taking it seriously, maybe even the most serious Tavros had ever seen him. Seeing their leader working so hard should have normally been a sign to encourage the others, but Tavros couldn't help but worry. Slick rarely put much effort into planning, that was Droog's job and sometimes Aradia's: even Sollux could be involved before Slick would offer his input. Maybe he was overreacting; maybe Slick was taking an interest in such 'fucking trivial matters'. However Tavros couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't, and the constant shouting coming from Slick and Droog wasn't helping matters. Deuce had scarpered much earlier on, and his own Dad was apparently keeping himself out of it too – so it wasn't as if he could just get up and ask. He was expected to wait until he was told, unless he wanted another injury to add to his current accumulation.

However, it seemed today was a lucky day; which was strange, because luck never seemed to side with him. He'd been sat in one of the main dining rooms, which was frequently used as a short cut to the numerous filing cabinets housing documents that probably hadn't been touched in years; until today. Slick and Droog were communing back and forth between Slick's office and the document storage, and this time Slick had brought something extra back from his latest forage. Without a word he pushed a sheet of paper onto the table in front of Tavros, who had been trying to work out some accounting on Droog's behalf.

“What's this?”

“A map.”

Tavros blinked for a minute, waiting for an elaboration. When Slick only stared back, it was obvious there were going to be no explanations apart from the bare minimum, which Tavros never really enjoyed. Maybe the others were good at understanding vague instructions, but Tavros liked to know everything that was expected of him so he was able to complete his tasks fully. Letting everyone down was a feeling that never sat well with him and now he was especially slacking, it wouldn't do to mess up.

“Uhm, I sort of realised that, but what I actually meant was what am I meant to do with a map?”

“Learn it.”

Well that wasn't exactly hard, but it didn't give any indications to why. Of course he'd managed to piece some things together today- and the things he had left him worried about the exact nature of the mission the adults were putting together. Every so often Slick would re-read a plan and screw it up in a fit of anger and expletives, leaving Droog to start from scratch again. They'd been at it for days now, but only recently had they started to move around the building more – almost as if they'd given up trying to keep it a secret. Or perhaps because Slick's resentment couldn't be contained within one room. Whatever the reason, the atmosphere was definitely tense and Tavros couldn't help but wish the others were home. He knew it wouldn't be long until Aradia brought them back, but it was the waiting with the knowledge that something was very wrong that put him on edge.

Slightly regretting that he had denied Aradia's offer of accompanying her, Tavros instead started studying the map. It was clearly the north section of town, which was strange because their territory only stretched less than a yard up there. In fact, hadn't Slick put them on harsh orders not to go anywhere near the border? Tavros looked at the map a little more closely, tracing the border line he'd grown up to know better than the back of his own hand. They'd never directly gone north for missions and jobs: maybe ventured a little way out, but never enough to have to know the area's shortcuts and hiding places. Everyone knew the north was under the thumb of 'the fucking she-devil'. Although she was their ultimate target, there was always the underlying understanding that she was to be avoided at all costs; until it was their final option. If he was looking at a map of the north section, then did that mean they'd finally run out of ways to avoid contact?

“Hey kid!” A voice suddenly called, and Tavros jumped as Deuce walked past grinning, pausing in his steps to turn back around and lean over Tavros' shoulder. Deuce always had a lack of awareness for personal space, but he was almost harmless, so Tavros tended to let it slide. Besides, he was almost kind compared to some of the other inhabitants.

“Hi,” Tavros replied, managing to carry on ignoring the intrusion into his bubble. A moment of silence passed between them as Deuce took his time to look over the map on the table, and Tavros followed suit – keeping his eyes on the map while awkwardly trying to work out how to ask Deuce what he needed without encouraging him to lean on Tavros any longer. Luckily it seemed the man was a little more per-occupied than usual, and he hummed a curious 'ahhh' before backing off.

“What is it?”

“Your finger is on the wrong spot,” Deuce offered, instead leaning over the table and placing his own finger onto the top right corner of the map. “This is what you're looking for.” He hummed again, before giving Tavros a tip of the hat and walking back out again. Blinking a little, Tavros looked back down at the map and found himself looking at some sort of building. It was big, almost mansion like. Oh. So it really was the last resort mission. With a deep sigh he went back to studying the map, only slightly distracted by the background noise of Droog and Slick arguing again.

It took a little bit of time to start locating routes and parts of the city he already knew, but eventually Tavros managed to gauge some idea of the area around the mansion. It seemed like whoever owned it had amassed a lot of the area – he'd worked out that the shaded parts were parts of the land that 'belonged' to 'her'. It was a little discouraging to see parts where Slick had recoloured their own as hers, but hopefully that would change in the near future. So engaged in his work, that Tavros didn't notice the additional voices over the top of the bickering seniors, almost slipping off his chair in surprise at the sudden voice coming from behind him.

“What are you doing?” Karkat asked, one eye raised as he peered over Tavros. Before Tavros could answer, Aradia was swiftly seating herself at the opposite end of the table while keeping an eye on the both of them. Tavros had to be grateful for this; even though all four of them had grown up together, Karkat still made Tavros a little nervous. At least Sollux was okay, or well, he was whenever he decided to leave his room. Aradia was really the most friendliest out of all of them, and she'd even been encouraging him after his incident the other month. She'd actually been the one encouraging him for most of his life, and he was eternally grateful that the two of them carried out most of their jobs in the company of one another. It made their work almost pleasant.

“Uhh, your Dad gave me this map and told me to look over it but, uhh,” he trailed off, wary of the hard expression that was starting to cloud Karkat's face. He shifted awkwardly, not quite sure what to say. Maybe Karkat already knew of the plans? That would make sense, seeing as he was the successor to the Midnight Crew, but if Karkat didn't know then Tavros couldn't exactly throw out speculations.

“This isn't our area, why would he make you look over that? It's not like-” Karkat suddenly stopped, lifting his eyes from the map to Aradia's. “Unless it is?” He slowly asked, and Tavros couldn't help but look at Aradia questioningly. She seemed unfazed by it; unmoved by the tension that Karkat was creating. It was a trait Tavros couldn't help but admire, the way she was carried herself without fear. Maybe one day he'd be able to look Karkat in the eye after waving a red flag in-front of his face – but that day wasn't today, so he simply waited.

“It's not my place to explain, but it's as we feared – they're taking over too much of our territory Karkat; we can't just sit around forever,” she allowed, meeting a growl from said Karkat, who suddenly pushed away from the table and headed off in the direction of his father with determined fury. “KK,” Sollux called after him, but the three made no move to follow him. Screaming matches between Karkat and Slick weren't rare and when they happened no one wanted to be near that. They fell into silence, Sollux shuffling from foot to foot in what seemed to be regret for not going after his partner.

“Uhm, should I have kept it from him?” Tavros asked, only to be met with Aradia shaking her head. With a little relief that he hadn't quite set off the loudest resident, he pushed the map a little towards the woman opposite him. “This couldn't possibly be our last resort plan? As in we uh, take out the felt?”

“It looks that way,” Aradia nodded, and Sollux hissed from behind them.

“Do you know anything else, or?”

“Little pieces, father hasn't been best pleased with Slick's constant change of plans and I've helped with some small details – however the full plan is yet to be revealed to anyone.”

“Ah, then when will we know?”

“As soon as Karkat is finished, I guess. I was under the assumption we'd know as soon as Slick sorted out his plan or we were all back in the same place.”

“Jethuth, ith there anything KK can't fuck up. If he had waited a couple of theconds then I'm thure thlick would have explained the plan and then we could have helped conthruct it.” Sollux was apparently exasperated with Karkat's latest rash behaviour, and Tavros couldn't help but sympathize with him. He wasn't quite sure how he'd keep up with Karkat _and_ keep him in line, but it seemed that Sollux was doing a good job of it, regardless of the doubt he seemed to always put himself through. However, as much as Tavros felt bad for Sollux at the moment, he had to work hard to suppress a giggle from passing his lips. It seemed he wasn't the only one, because Aradia's was visibly laughing – a rare occurrence from her usual painted smiles.

“Yeah, yeah, too much 'thhhhhh'” Sollux sighed, a twitch of a smile starting to grace his features. Just as it seemed he was going to break into an actual smile, the door connecting them to the main hallway swung open again, leaving Sollux and Tavros to jump as Aradia remained as composed as ever.

“Which one of you shits let Slick's kid back in there?” The voice of 'Diamonds' Droog was a strangely powerful one; the kind that left no room for questions or hesitating. Droog told you to jump and you scrambled pathetically to ask how high. Even if Slick took the head of the Midnight Crew, Droog was obviously the oil that kept it running. He took a great claim to the brains of the operation too – probably the only one who could think a rational decision through without taking impulsive action.

“He left of his own accord, there's nothing we could do to stop him,” Aradia answered for them, possibly saving the two males from a bullet to the kneecap. Even if the man would punish the rest of them without question, his soft spot for Aradia left an escape route for them to worm their way out of situations with and they'd been abusing that privilege from the moment they'd been old enough to talk. Even now they could get away with it, as Droog seemed to settle down an inch.

“You guys work in pairs because you're meant to have each others backs; if that kid keeps fucking up then one of you is gonna find there's a presence missing when your back hits a wall, instead of his.” He drawled, eyes flickering to Sollux's. The two seemed to stare at each other for a while, unblinking; weighing the other up. This seemed to be exactly what Droog wanted from Sollux, as he pulled back with satisfaction. “Sollux you're a smart kid - if you weren't you wouldn't be touching my daughter- so put that head to good use and keep the brat out of trouble.”

“Ith tith the role I'm going to be known for? Keeping the great Karkat Vantath from cauthing trouble? Jethuth, he'th bathically an adult!” Sollux muttered, ignoring the dismissive chuckle Droog gave as he turned back around and motioned for the three of them to follow him. Aradia and Sollux managed it in a smooth motion, but Tavros had to take it a little slower. Ever since 'the accident' he'd been taking things slowly, it was frustrating to say the least. At least now he was at a level where he could walk normally again, but Kanaya had advised him against anything too strenuous or quick. The 'doctor's orders' had left him with rather mundane tasks, but he had to admit that he did enjoy it a lot more than the usual routine.

He ended up shuffling behind the three as they made their way past Slick's office and into the 'planning room' which wasn't really ever used for that purpose at all. They had too many rooms with fancy purposes, it left the rooms with an empty feeling that didn't feel right. Tavros often stuck to the most frequently used rooms instead, meaning the larger and more spacious rooms felt a tad unfamiliar to him. More formal. Perhaps formal was a fitting feeling for this, seeing as the other members were already seated. Even Karkat was sunk in a seat, clearly unhappy, but pacified from his earlier rage. Tavros could only hedge a guess about what he'd gotten so worked up over, and even then he wasn't sure he'd guess correctly. It was just best to keep quiet about asking things like that; he'd learnt that lesson the hard way.

As the others took their seats, he took it as a cue to take his own. Tavros ended up seated next to Sollux, which wasn't so bad. At least he could see everyone clearly from half way up the table, and his own father was only across from him. He took a chance to take a glance at Slick, who looked just about ready to shoot every single one of them. That had happened before too.

“Well seeing as most of you have worked it out,” Slick began, starting to light a smoke, “I'm sick to death of Snowman running around acting like she owns this place. Turning up with her smug faced brats and calling the shots.” He growled, venom starting to coat his words with a bitter taste that had been lurking on the back of his tongue for years. “So I propose we take back what's ours – reinstate our authority.” Another pause, the atmosphere was almost unbearable now. Everyone was waiting with baited breath for the next words Slick would speak. If he decided they were going to go on a suicide mission, then they were going to do it. He could essentially jeopardize all their lives with one decision. “We're going to the mansion tonight. We're gonna show no mercy and we're gonna take out every fucker we come across.”

“Jesus fucking Christ Dad, can you be any more of an asshole?” Karkat suddenly shouted, standing up and leaning over the table with an air of authority that had never quite been there.

“Wanna watch your mouth? Your mother didn't raise you to talk like that.”

“My mother didn't raise me at all, the bitch left me with my 'fully competent' father and by fully competent, I mean a fucking psycho who thinks the solution is to kill some girls who I doubt are even eighteen yet!”

“Kid, you gonna sit there and bitch all night or do I gotta teach you how to pick up a gun all over again? Surely even you can do something as simple as that?” He paused, raising one eye at Karkat before snarling, “don't give me that look you little shit. Get out of here and get ready because we're leaving as soon as the sun starts to set and you're gonna be joining us unless you plan on becoming fatherless on top of motherless. I'm sick to death of your bullshit, we already went over this as soon as you came bursting into my office bawling your eyes like a toddler.”

Something seemed to impact Karkat about that statement, he simply stood and opened his mouth before closing it again. The motion repeated at least three more times before he regained his ability to speak, and what came next was something even Tavros wouldn't have anticipated. “Fuck it! I'm in and I'll sort this mess out without beheading anyone like a raging mad man because _someone_ in this family has to keep their fucking head instead of brandishing their weapon like some kind of ape from the stone age.” Karkat seethed, knuckles turning white against the table they where leaning on. Even if he was shaking a little too much to be casual, Tavros didn't even notice. He was in silent awe of Karkat: surprised by the underlying compassion the man seemed to have. He'd always had similar thoughts, but of course he'd never thought of voicing them – even to Aradia.

“Shut up and get out already,” Droog sighed, and for once, Karkat did as he was told: the door slamming behind him and leaving the rest of them to fall into silence.

“Aradia,” Slick suddenly barked, and for once she genuinely looked uneasy about her position. “As much as I hate to admit it, I don't trust Kar on this one. If he comes across those little bitches he ain't gonna shoot 'em, I know it. So, make sure if you come across those girls, they don't come out of that place alive – got it?”

“You're asking that I kill them on sight? They could be valuable and vital to information in the event that we fail to take out every felt member.” On the surface, Aradia's statement seemed logical rather than anything else, but Tavros knew she was just as distressed about killing someone their age as he was. Yes, the women were capable of killing them – _but they hadn't._ They'd played and toyed but never killed. It seemed almost a jump too far. Of course, they had always been aware from a young age that they were in a dog eat dog world – but there was a difference between killing a grown man trying to kill you, and killing some women who had skittered on the outskirts. Well, at least one of them hadn't directly tried to kill anyone, but even then Tavros still couldn't bring himself to hate the other.

“Let's put this into perspective here, old Kar may think they're harmless but one of them almost took out Tav over there.” Suddenly all eyes were on Tavros, and it was almost as if all his worse nightmares were coming true. He didn't want to be used as an example, or as an excuse. He'd rather just forget the whole incident happened. That's what he'd planned on but apparently Slick had different ideas.

“I know you 'aint gonna let them get away with that, so remember just who's grave you could have been digging if you come face to face with 'em,” he finalized, and Tavros couldn't even bring himself to glance at what kind of face his father would be making. He couldn't really bring himself to look at anyone, what expression were you meant to make when you'd just been asked to think about your friends and family digging your own grave? With mixed emotions, he resigned himself to staring at the table – wishing the minutes away, and perhaps even wishing the whole evening away.

“So kids,” Slick interrupted, cutting the silence again, “you capable of this, or am I gonna have to assign a baby sitter for you three as well?” He laughed, although the joke wasn't really apparent. In all honesty, Tavros didn't really think there was a joke – just a filler for the grim realisation that was starting to slowly seep in on them all.

 **[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTvELXNXNU) **

**[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTvELXNXNU) **

**[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aTvELXNXNU) **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are my pale ships becoming obvious yet? ahahahaha!
> 
> i'm sorry this took so long, i had to spend most of last week typing up some english coursework, but hopefully i can pick up the pace a little bit more during christmas!
> 
> i've actually only written terezi and karkat before, so trying to work out how to write the others has also contributed to a slow update. i'm sort of happy with it, i guess?? tavros is the hardest so hopefully i didn't make him too under-confident, but at the same time i figured he must have some degree of confidence if he's in a gang so.... bleugh  
> wow i could actually talk about headcanons all day, but to finish up my ramblings i hope this is worth the long delay and that i don't disappoint anyone!


	3. Dead Shuffle

[[S]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

 

The four 'kids' had regrouped in living room they'd claimed as their own since they really had been kids. It wasn't the most spacious room in the building, but it had always been big enough for Sollux and Karkat to fight in a corner, while Aradia and Tavros had carried on eating dinner – although the latter did so with slight hesitation as the furniture started being used as weapons. In the recent years of their maturity, the room had changed along with their interests and needs. Instead of the paper and pencils that used to clutter the table, it was replaced by maps, paperwork and bank statements. The shelf that stored their books was replaced with a shelf that stored spare parts to weapons and electronics around the house. It was obvious Sollux had claimed most of the space, and the others didn't really seem to mind. If something broke, he knew how to fix it – and no one was about to complain if they had to give up book space to ensure their shit could be mended as soon as possible. One item that had been the ever expanding list of Sollux's-to-do list was Karkat's own gun: a Webley revolver in such bad shape that Slick physically winced whenever he saw it. No matter how many times they tried to persuade him to use something more modern, Karkat would refuse and then proceed to give them a long winded lecture on the emotional damage of trying to part a man from his gun. Eventually he'd been left to get on with it, but the unreliability of the gun was the bane to both Karkat and Sollux's existence. Spare parts for it were somewhat hard to get hold of, and then there was always the pain of trying to keep Karkat from attempting to fix it himself – which had been Sollux's goal for the last week.

Out of the corner of an eye, Karkat was more than aware of another pair watching as his hands started creeping towards the said, recently fixed, revolver. His fingertips were inches away from the smooth handle of the metal, but he should have known his partner in crime would have something to say about that. He barely had time to blink before his wrist was pushed against the hardwood of the table, crushing any hope of touching his precious weapon. With a growl of irritation he moved his head to gain eye contact with the brunette opposite him, but the bastard was merely watching him – calculating something that Karkat had no hope of guessing.

“KK you thure you wanna do thith?” Sollux muttered, leaning down low enough over the table that the sound would only be shared between the two of them. The small mercy was appealing to Karkat's pride, and with a look to the side it appeared that neither of the air head duo were paying any attention to their current exchange. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to Sollux – mahogany meeting copper and cobalt. Karkat couldn't help but envy his best friend a little; he'd always had an exotic look about him, probably fueled by his heterochromia – which usually left Karkat feeling a little inadequate with his own eye colour. In fact, a lot of things about Sollux left Karkat feeling more than inadequate, but as snarky and detached as Sollux could act, there were always the times when Karkat knew they had each other's backs, and the reminder rang true as a flash of worry spilled over the rim of the other man's glasses.

“There's not much else we can do,” He returned, breaking the eye contact and claiming the gun Sollux had stopped him from taking. The other man let him take it, and it was accompanied with mutual understanding between them – Sollux trusted him to make the right decision. “Besides, old man's right; I'm not a kid anymore.” The expression on his faced flickered between sour and bitter, before finally settling on a barrier of impassive.

“No one thaid you were a little kid, even if you tend to have the maturity of one,” Sollux sighed, ignoring the eye roll from opposite him. “But I jutht athumed that if you meant what you thaid, then you wouldn't be taking that with you. Maybe thomething to cauthe injurieth, not death.”

“If something shoots to kill at me, of course I'm gonna shoot back and come out alive,” Karkat scoffed, almost patronising with the sheer obviousness of the reply. “But I'm not hunting people down like we're on a family weekend of deer hunting – which, by the way, was the worst vaction I've ever been on and you can tell your dad to promptly fuck himself if he ever thinks I am spending another weekend chasing bambi and the gang through a forest. Furthermore, if I ever were to decide I want to torture myself over a three day period, I'm pretty sure I'd bring a gun instead of explosives because for some, strange, strange reason – the dry cleaners don't accept suits covered in raw venison.” He finally breathed out, a tad flustered from his rant. It had become a habit that he'd never really been able to break out of: no one had payed much attention to his complaints when they were short, so he'd ended up talking until people couldn't help but listen. Being quiet when something was on his mind was uncommon, although sometimes the ranting came from the nervousness of something else. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous about tonight; the mere thought of it was making him sick. However, no matter how much he disagreed with some of his father's methods – they were still family. Even from a young aged they had all been taught to value that, and if the other three were putting their lives on the line, then he would be damned if he wasn't going to do the same.

 “I'll make thure to keep a note of more ridiculouth requeths from hith highneth, KK.” The two glared at each other again before smiling a little; there was no point getting worked up over it when they'd soon enough be watching the other's back. “Calm down idiot,” Sollux added, finally pulling away from the situation and addressing the two sets of eyes currently staring at them. “How long have we got?”

“On a normal day I'd estimate two hours and thirty six seconds, however this isn't a normal day and Slick seems agitated to get this one going – so I would say less than an hour; closer to forty five minutes. It depends if he's stopped arguing with father yet.”

“I doubt it,” Karkat snorted, knowing full well what his father's capabilities were like when it came to being rational about topics involving The Felt.

“Then shouldn't we at least check up on them?” For a moment Karkat had almost forgotten Tavros was in the room. He regarded him slowly, a mixture of words forming on the tip of his tongue. Unfortunately, tact was a skill he hadn't yet perfected, and all he managed to reply with was “You're coming with us?”

“Even if I seem to be having a little trouble with some things, I can still look out for myself. I don't want to be left behind there while the rest of you go,” Tavros almost argued, and Karkat had to fight the dubious look from creeping up onto his face. But whatever; Tavros wouldn't be alive if he was completely shit at whatever it was he actually did. Although he couldn't help but think this was another bad move on their part. If Tavros was already identified as a target from at least one of members, then there was a good chance he'd be targeted again. The Felt never left things half-assed – he had his own scars from the she-devils litter as a testament to that one. Thinking about it, wasn't he himself a target from? With impatience from over-thinking, Karkat let out a huff and ran a hand through his hair. He'd just have to trust everyone else, including himself, not to fuck up like usual.

“Alright, you have a point and I'm not sitting around waiting for shit to go down anymore; we might as well meet up with our respective parents and force certain ones to behave in a manner that isn't a clusterfuck of embarrassment to watch.”

 -

Locating and detaining their parental units had been the easiest task of the night; locating and detaining The Felt took the award for the most excruciatingly painful task of the evening.

It had been the usual plan in way of attack; Slick & Co. approaching first while Karkat & Co. found another way in. There was never any point in putting all your eggs in one basket, and working in two halves had always been the most beneficial for all of them. However, Karkat almost lost that confidence in numbers when Tavros first pointed their line of focus to the mansion. Under the fall of night, the whole building looked black – but careful attention to the flickers of lighting showed hues of green which no respectful citizen would attempt to use in public. How the fuck had they missed this thing before? It was literally a giant green building in the middle of nowhere. They'd left the city about thirty minutes ago; it was trees and empty lanes from here on in. With a quick glance to the others, it was clear he wasn't the only one taken aback by it all, and the shared anxiousness took a little tension away.

“Shit,” he exhaled, dragging the sound out as his eyes raked over the mansion. Where would they even start? With a small tremble from the overwhelming size of the building and the challenge they were up against; Karkat slipped his hands back into his coat pocket and searched around for a lighter and cigarette. The items were easy enough to locate, and he lit one while ignoring the tut from a certain dickwipe. “Please tell me someone has a plan that's going to work; suddenly I don't think we're gonna be able to simply walk in there like our parents are.”

“Well, we know there'th what, no more than twenty members?” Trust Sollux to already be evaluating the area. Karkat could practically see the gears turning in his brain. “With a manthion thith big, I'd gueth that every one in three roomth are occupied.”

“So you're guessing sixty rooms?”

“Guething – fuck knowth how big it ith on the inthide.”

“Keep talking,” Karkat encouraged, taking another drag.

“Let's athume I'm right; we've got thixty rooms with twenty memberth in. There'th four of uth – meaning the most efficient way would be to thilt up and aim to corner five, one at a time: and that'th juth athuming the otherth don't pick thome off too. With eight of uth, we've got a ratio of eight to twenty; which ith then two to five.”

“Or one to two and a half.”

“Exactly.”

“That's still sixty rooms to locate the two and a half each of us has to take out; and that's assuming they're not all in the same room.” Aradia frowned, but Sollux was already giving an answer: confident in his element.

“You're forgetting that about twenty of thothe roomth are going to bedroomth, with bathroomth too I'd imagine.”

“So that knocks off what, a little under half the rooms?” Karkat calculated.

“But if we start at the bottom and work up, then they're going to have more time to disperse into the bedrooms and bathrooms. I mean uh, I guess they'd be on the higher floors and if you need a lot of bedrooms then they can't really be all that big. We'd be lost in a maze of rooms.”

The youngest of them took one last breath before lowering the cigarette from his lips and letting the nicotine carry out it's conditioned purpose of leaving him clear headed and ready.

“Karkat?”

“Mm.” He half responded, quickly going back over everything that had been discussed. He needed to make sure it was clear and flowing – there had to be consistent movement, none of which could be a wrong step.

“Your call; fearleth leader,” Sollux grinned, and Karkat finally stubbed out the cigarette – watching with interest as it died out underneath his feet.

“Okay, here's what's going to happen and you shit heads aren't going to fuck it up. Every time we've encountered The Felt, we've been working with our regular partners right? You two” he nodded towards Aradia and Tavros, “playing Team Charge or whatever it is; while Sollux and I beat the shit out of each other before we've even got to the targets. We always follow the same patterns, we're predictable and I'd bet good money that's why I'm always getting cornered by little Miss. Teeth.”

“Tho?”

“So, we switch.” He explained, having to bite back an annoyed click of the tongue at their confused faces. “I'm replacing you with Tavros, and I'm trusting that you'll be able to do your job while keeping your hands off of Megido. We know how to work along side each other, we just choose not to because I can barely deal with any one of you three and your bullshit.”

“By switching over, we have the advantage of?”

“Surprise.” A snort from Sollux. “Fuck you _thugar lipth,_ because we all know that those two girls are waiting for us in there. Every time we've been cornered by them, I've had to fight off the blind one while you've dealt with the other one. We always get picked off into a corner away from each other – but Aradia and Tavros always manage to stay together and come out a lot better off than us.”

“Latht time TV was almost crippled, we can't ignore that.”

“But I wasn't, and I'm here now. I can't deny that I'm nervous but I think I can take her if I see her again.” Thinking wasn't really going to help anyone; Karkat liked to think he was knowledgeable enough to get a career as a movie critic – but he doubted that would ever happen. He couldn't knock Tavros' dedication though.

“Both of you are missing the point – they know that if they find us then all they have to do is separate me and Soll and target Tavros to make Aradia slip up; vice versa. They're going to have to think carefully when going for us--”

“And a second is all it takes.”

“ Exactly. We don't need to worry about the other fuckers because some of them can't tell left from right. Just worry about the ones capable of holding a gun round the right way; and for Christ's sake, if you see Snowman get the fuck out of there and try to re-group. Got it?”

 The three of them nodded and a weight lifted from Karkat's shoulder. They could do this. They were going to do this and they were going to come out alive.

 “I guess we'll take our leave then, Sollux already claimed the west entrance – which now leaves you with the east.” Aradia noted, and Karkat made a mental note to chew out his best friend later. Only he would call the easiest route, and then end up away from Karkat. It didn't matter that it had been Karkat's decision to mix things up; Sollux was still going to hear about it as soon as things fucked up. If they fucked up. No – they weren't going to fuck up at all.

 “Wait,” He stumbled as the pair turned to leave. Aradia turned back around and, _God fucking dammit_ , he knew that she knew exactly what he was going to say. “Just,” he grasped, suddenly feeling ridiculous. He knew that if he asked her to go easy, then it sounded like he was siding with the enemy. He wasn't going to make it look like one of them wasn't standing hundred percent with the MC, but he didn't want her to leave without saying something. If anything did happen, he wouldn't be able to live with that on his conscience. Luckily she had always been switched on, and from the twitch of her lips it was evident she had cottoned on – but that didn't make it any more appealing to openly voice his wishes. “Don't let that asshole die,” he instead managed, ignoring the eye roll and muttered 'thanks KK.'

“I'll do my best,” she smiled, and he hoped that the underlying meaning was shared between the two of him – not just himself.

“Right, so.” He turned back to Tavros, silently praying that he'd be seeing the departing couple later, “looks like it's just you and me.”

“Shall we uh, get going?” Tavros asked, and Karkat nodded.

“How quick can you move?” He asked, started to head off in the opposite direction of Sollux and Aradia. He'd studied the map well enough to know how to get in through the east door, but making their way down to the mansion would be a task in itself. The only way down was descending through the grassy slopes that made up the bank surrounding the hideous green structure. If Tavros couldn't make that then they were fucked.

“Fast enough to keep up with you, but I think stairs are going to be a problem.”

“Okay we'll deal with that problem when we come across it, for now we're aiming to get to the east entrance without falling over our own two feet.” He grimaced, visions of both of them falling down in the mud and somehow dying. But Karkat Vantas wasn't going to be put off by a steep climb down because no hill was going to get the best of next in line for the Midnight Crew.

“I think we can do that,” Tavros smiled, and at least that was a piece of reassurance.

The two of them began making their way downwards and, much to Karkat's disdain, Tavros seemed to be the one most adept at scrambling over things. Probably all the time he spent playing games for girls with the only girl around. Although maybe it seemed he needed to invest some time into said games, because he was loosing a lot more footwork then he would have liked to have admitted. Eventually the two of them managed to make it onto the flat grass, which only came with the danger of mud and waterlogged areas. Karkat was already sick to death of the area, and left Tavros in charge of navigation. The man was pretty good at it too, they'd only managed to slip up once – and, admittedly, that had probably been Karkat's own fault.

They'd made good time with their little exploration; and by good time he meant that Deuce hadn't blown anything up yet. It was still looking that way as they approached the building; almost close enough now to really notice the details under the cover of night. The architecture was stunning, obviously picked by someone who knew what they were doing – it was just a shame the whole thing was painted so terribly. Kanaya would be having an aneurysm if she ever saw the place. The bars on the window didn't look too inviting, which meant any quick escapes would have to be through the numerous doors on the bottom floor. They really could not afford to let anyone get the upper hand here; they had to get this over and done with quickly and quietly.

The closer they strode towards the target, the faster his heart started chanting. This was it; they were really going to do this. The wood of the door was almost in reach; he could almost extend his arm and run a finger across the shiny paint that coated it. Even the fucking doors were painted, he internally screamed. There was no more time to moan about tacky décor, now was the time to take action. His hands found their way into his coat pocket, searching for the security that rarely left it. As soon as he touched the revolver, he knew his head was in the game. The metal felt heavy in his hands, but it felt right. It was always the cold touch that brought the adrenaline running, and he could think clearly on adrenaline. He could focus. He could fight.

“This shouldn't be open,” Karkat first noted, teeth moving to bit the inside of his jaw. He hadn't been able to see it from a distance, but now it was obvious that the door wasn't locked. A curious test of the round handle showed that the door shifted around without any restraint. It was obviously a trap _;_ no one would risk that, meaning they would move to find a locked door. If memory served him well, then the next door would be found round the south of the house. It was even smaller than this one, and led into a narrow hallway. The most logical conclusion would be that they were supposed to think it was a trap, and therefore move to another door: but that door would be the actual trap. Clever, he noted, but he hadn't lived to eighteen without using his own intelligence.

“Gun out,” he warned Tavros, opening the door and stepping inside.

The first thing that hit him was the smell. It was musky, not unlike an old book, he supposed. The lighting was dim, but that didn't really come as a surprise. He could already hear movement coming from further along in the building, and it sounded a lot like Boxcars. There was a comfort in knowing the strongest was near by, but it also came with the knowledge that the biggest and strongest of The Felt would therefore be sent. He needed to keep himself and Tavros in the backdrop, carefully navigating around the chaos that was being created. Looking around, there seemed to be vast amounts of options. A narrow hallway ran from the left of them, almost directly as you came through the door. Karkat would put good money on it leading directly to somewhere important. However, he had no idea where it went so he had to make a choice of the door to his right, or carrying up into what he presumed was a lobby area. If they could just get into a position where they were able to get a shot on some-

“I think someone's here.” Tavros whispered, and Karkat's head shot up in panic. Trying to hold his breath, he strained his ears for any sound, but all he could hear was Tavros' own breathing and the growing rush of blood starting to pump through his veins.

“Where?”

“I-” They both paused, trying desperately to put a position to the sound. “I don't know.”

A footstep.

“Did you hear that?” Karkat hurriedly whispered, but a sudden movement from behind proved to be all the confirmation he needed. In a second he was turning, gun aimed right behind Tavros. He had barely enough time to register just who he was facing.

“Well, well, well, what do we have _heeeeeeeere_?”

“ _Shit_.”

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

[](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTIQhTdy4ZU&feature=bf_next&list=PLEB4146AD03FAD523&lf=results_main)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha i had to google a lot of floor plans for mansions. it was actually interesting, but none of them really gave an average for how many rooms constitutes as a mansion. so i apologise if sixty is off, but a couple of old fashion ones had about sixty seven, and they looked lovely!
> 
> i apologise for another long wait, but i'm getting into it now so i really do hope future-me steps up and stops procrastinating so much...
> 
> and finally, to try and combat the procrastination i made a side blog on tumblr. (http://waystomakeyoupay.tumblr.com/) it's mostly world building with pretty pictures though.. although i guess i'll start updating it a little more.
> 
> so i hope this is okay and that i update soon! ♥


	4. Trails

[[S]](http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/trails)

The hiss escaping through Karkat's teeth was lost to Tavros as the pitch of the woman's voice pierced through the silence. He could feel the ripple of fear washing over his body: a morse code of distress written in the braille of his skin. There was something naturally terrifying about the woman in front of him, and his near amputation only contributed to the dread that her presence brought. It took a few moments of courage to refocus his eyes, and it was a decision that he almost regretted. At a first glance she looked beautiful, but by now he was wary enough to notice where the looks faded and dissolved into something more twisted. No matter how deadly he knew she was, there was a fascination that kept him from ever looking away completely. He could only equate it to a fascination with a predator, mesmerized by the way they picked off anything underneath them -- playing with food it deemed unworthy.

"Oh please, you're not going to shoot."

Karkat's had stepped out from behind Tavros to get a better aim, grip tightened on his gun. Tavros' own gun was raised, but he wasn't intending to shoot. He wasn't sure if she was referring to both of them, or one of them, but it did the job of provoking Karkat thoroughly.

"How do you know that?" He snarled, which was probably a bad idea from Tavros' perspective. If he'd learnt anything, it was that humouring either of the sister's attempts at conversation always ended up with a distraction that was costly. 'Mindfang' had a strange way of manipulating words, on more than one occasion managing to manipulate Tavros into the opposite of what he had intended to do. He'd wondered about the plausibility of her using some kind of hypnosis, but in the end he always had to wonder if he was just weak enough to be easily influenced and swayed.

"Because you'll miss."

What was meant as another taunt, had somehow translated into a dare -- one that Karkat had taken it upon himself to carry out. Tavros felt his body jolt as a bullet hit the wall closest to her; the noise practically deafening his left ear where Karkat was just a step behind him.

"Don't tell me I wont shoot."

Mindfang didn't seem overly bothered by the shot at all: she'd flinched -- but if she'd made a noise of surprise then Tavros hadn't caught it over the impact of the bullet. Hardened eyes flickered to Karkat's then, the two of them staring the other out. Her lips curled just a fraction before she pulled her vision away, lifting a hand to lazily point at the wall. "Sure you shot, but you missed."

Karkat hissed again, his agitation clear. The hissing only increased and Mindang reached for Tavros, her fingers on his cheek bones. He could sense his partners gun was inches from her temple, but she didn't seem to be posing a threat -- the whole time she hadn't even reached for any weapons. Still, she didn't need weapons to achieve anything. As her fingertips fell behind his jawline, he could only note that they were freezing. Her eyes were focused on him now, searching for something in his own.

"Do you believe in luck Vantas? Don't you think it's so luuuuuuuucky how Tav here can still walk."

Tavros swallowed, fighting an urge to pry her off of him. Suffering through it with a poker face was a better sounding solution than showing her how much she unnerved him. However, as much as she tried to stay still, she had a sixth sense for discomfort, and she smirked down at him: she knew it before he'd even know it. With triumph, she released his face and turned her attention back to Karkat.

"Is it not lucky that you missed? That you'll miss again and again and again because that's how luck works. Probability swings in my favour, the odds are all stacked."

"Luck isn't real."

There was a sudden cackle from behind Karkat, but Tavros didn't dare turn to re-adjust his attention. He could already feel Karkat's body moving, and that meant someone needed to keep an eye on the current sister. It took a small hesitation to drag his eyes back up to her, but she was already looking past him -- her lips quirked with a clash of emotions. He didn't know her well enough to pinpoint anything specific, but she still seemed rather amused for someone who had just been upstaged.

"Did I invite you to join us Redglare? I told you I wanted to deal with them, you could handle the other two."

"For some reason they split themselves up before I could, so I thought I'd come and admire your handiwork for a while." There were footsteps and daunting taps from the other end of the hall, the other sister making her way to the three of them. As far as she was concerned, there was no rush -- she always seemed to be more thorough than Mindfang in that regard. "And on that topic, you're playing with them wrong: quite frankly it's boring to sit and watch." She laughed again, a joke that Karkat and Tavros didn't get, and by the look on Mindfang's face, one that she'd heard too many times to even bother responding to.

"Mr. Vantas," she greeted him, and Karkat's raised arm fell a few inches, allowing Tavros to step aside to put some distance between him and the other man's weapon. "Do you know why luck isn't real?"

All attention was on Karkat; the three were waiting paitently for his reply, probably already making bets on his answer. Tavros could only guess he'd start shouting, maybe going on a tangent about how simple or obvious it was: but no more than one word left Karkat's mouth -- too intriguied by either the question, or the girl herself."No."

"I'll tell you; it's because you yourself are not strong enough to shoot. There is no luck involved in your inability to pull a trigger."

"Whether I can or can't shoot is irrelevant."

"Because you don't want to kill us? Doesn't that determine whether you can or can't shoot? Don't you see Mr. Vantas, it's all very circular." Another silence washed over the four of them, but Redglare didn't seem fazed.

"It's no fun if you don't react," she giggled, finally relenting on Karkat. Without turning, she started speaking again. "I thought you wanted to play with them?"

"I was, and I still am! This whole scene is mine Redglare."

"Maybe I want it now, you're too slow today. They look positively relaxed compared to last time you cornered the two of them -- are you losing your touch?" Mindfang was seething at the accusation, her face scrunching in childish disagreement. She stared at Redglare, before gathering her thoughts and once again turning to Tavros. He could already sense the danger that was lurking, and the feeling was so uncomfortable that he had to forcefully push aside the idea of runni--

"Do you want to run away from me, Tav?"

He stared at her in disbelief, unsure if he'd projected his thoughts onto her, of if she'd actually said it. Her facial expression screamed confidence, and the colour drained from his face. She was right of course, he wanted to run. Maybe running was for the best; Karkat would be okay and maybe he'd find Aradia and Sollux and then they could come back and help Karkat. It was merely wishful thinking, he told himself, but the more he looked at Mindfang the more the urge intensified.

"Tavros, don't listen to her she's fuck--"

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you," she shouted at Karkat, and he actually bit his tongue. The problem with Mindfang was that she was unpredictable, and mouthing off back only served to push her further. Redglare had already done an adequate job of riling her up, and to say Tavros was terrified of the consequences of her actions, would be an understatement. "You know how easy it would be," she crooned, reassuring him of his decision. "Just run."

"Nitram!" There was an exasperated bark to Karkat's call, but Tavros didn't have time to look back. Running was a struggle, but adrenaline kept the pain ignorable long enough to get a good distance. The whole place looked the same -- barely any distinguishing features, just the same repeated arcs and decor. He came to a stop halfway down the corridor, waiting silently, heart hammering. Why on earth had he ran? He cursed himself for giving in to the fear, trying to quickly find a solution. There was commotion somewhere behind him but that wasn't important: the importance was focusing on Karkat. He was still scared to go back, but somehow his loyalty outweighed his fear. Vriska had probably expected him to run and not come back, so the obvious choice was to go back.

He doubled back round again, hands more confident when grabbing his weapon. However there was no need for it, because the three of them were gone. The realization was instant; something was wrong, because Karkat wouldn't leave him behind -- and surely Karkat knew Tavros wouldn't leave him behind either. His eyes darted down the corridor, slinking back against the wall for extra protection and caution. It had been no more than a few minutes, maybe a little more -- he'd never caught the hang of knowing each second like a pulse of blood. As the blood quickened through his body, the sound blocked out the footsteps that would cost him.

"Gotcha Peter."

With that Tavros staggered forwards, reaching for the other wall while he recoiled from the sudden blow. It wasn't hard enough to break anything, but it was enough to leave his jaw throbbing as the blood rushed to the surface. He'd caught his tongue on the side of teeth as they'd shifted from the impact, causing the liquid to leak over his mouth. He spat a little out, not risking wiping his mouth and aggravating the pain. He had to recover quickly, and decided to risk swallowing more blood in favour of fighting back. He span back around and aimed his own fist back at her, which found contact just below the end of her collar bone.

Then it was Mindfang's turn to fumble, apparently caught off guard by his punch. She grunted before stepping back completely; out of his reach while they stood at a standstill. If he could just get her to stand still long enough, maybe he could land a blow that would stop her from coming after him. She seemed to gauge that he was thinking, and started coming towards him again. He hesitated in stepping back -- unsure what she was intending. He could never work out her plans before she carried through with them, and it left him putting himself in danger because the route to saftey was always tightly concealed.

"You're always here, always, always, _always_ bugging and prodding and meddling," Mindfang hissed, herding him down the corridor. Just as his back almost hit a door behind him, she stopped moving. "But what I told Karkat, it's true you know; I have aaaaaaaall the luck," she sang, voice too patronising to ever be trusted. What 'all the luck meant' Tavros didn't know, but as she reached behind him -- he had a feeling he was about to find out. He instinctively stepped away from her, and the thought of her touching him created panic that distracted him from her real intention. A door opened from behind him, the edges smacking against his shoulder blades. The suddenly blow disorientated him, and the world blurred as he finally found balance again. Or at least he thought he'd found balance, but the reality was that Mindfang had caught him by the throat, choking him into a panic.

Her grip felt like it lasted for centuries, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. His eyes met hers in blind panic, and his fear seemed to instantly reflect in her own. She threw him backwards, and this time he almost choked on the sudden inhale of oxygen. His fall was far from graceful, but the dizziness and disorientation didn't give him time to contemplate how pathetic he looked. All that mattered was stifling the burning in his lungs -- she could have been aiming to shoot him and all he would have cared about was filling his lungs as much as he could. With it dawning on him that he was still in danger, Tavros was forced to pay attention to his surroundings. The whole room was dimly light, but the opened door provided enough light to see. He tried to sit up to understand what Mindfang was doing, but he'd been greedy with the oxygen and the movement made his stomach lurch. He pitifully fell back again, trying to reduce the urge to dry heave. At least he could see her now, although it wasn't a very comforting sight.

"That's another score for the Scrouge Sisters," she taunted, stepping away from the door frame and back into the hallway. Maybe she really was going to shoot him, he idly thought. With desperation, he started pushing himself to his feet again -- only to be thrown into total darkness. If the slamming door wasn't enough to confirm his fears, the sound of a lock moving was the icing on the cake. Cracks of light were still coming through the door frame, but that didn't help Tavros with seeing further than a couple of steps in front of him. He had no idea where he was, but he suddenly noticed the soft glow of green in the background. While green was far from unusual with the Felt, he'd never taken them for having an interest in lava lamps. Lava lamps only really had an aesthetic appeal, and even then they were very slow moving -- he doubted any of The Felt would have the patience to possess such a thing. He started to move towards it, fascinated by the object being in such a place. His task was halted when he stood on something, a deafening blast ringing around the room. He jumped back out of fright, breathing audibly from the shock. It was liked he'd walked into the room of a small child, with toys to distract it's attention strewn all over the place. As his breathing quietened from the shock, he noticed it was still echoing from near the lava lamp. Tavros frowned with confusion, squinting at the dim-lighted room to see if it was designed to echo.

Suddenly, it dawned on him that he wasn't alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eugh, how do you give mind control to a human girl? that's been question of the month for a while now
> 
> wow sorry doesn't even cover this one, i wrote like 75% of it then procrastinated about posting it, forgot about it for 7... mo...nths... and then i got an email reminding me about it. that's why it's so short compared to the others; i wrote the rest today but i've forgotten everything else i was planning to write for this...


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